jigokulogs

[ If it were up to Yuri, the Alliance would be the ones handling the Kappa's questioning and all decisions regarding their fate. No one had more right to answers after what had befallen the Daitengu, and it's become plain the Kappa didn't really have answers at all. But in the absence of a leader to challenge the Enma's decree, the terror-struck Kappa have fled, time is being wasted chasing them, and nobody is closer to the truth.

Yuri finds Dimitri busy scruffing a Kappa with the same ease he demonstrated that day on security detail. He doesn't draw attention to himself until the van door has swung shut. ]

Hey, lion prince. I heard you have marching orders. Got a minute to talk?

Edited 2022-04-05 06:57 (UTC)

[ he frowns at yuri, but he pauses his work to address him. ]

You heard correctly.

What is this about? [ his voice turns a little stern. ] I hope you're not here to cause trouble.

Relax. If I were planning to cause trouble, I wouldn't announce myself beforehand.

[ He'd sneak by when no one's looking and unlatch the van doors or something, but that wouldn't achieve much in the long run. The only thing that would help the Kappa now is to convince the Enma the real blame lay elsewhere. So Yuri's not here to stem the flood of arrests. He's not even armed, and he holds out both his hands to show it. ]

How much have you heard from the kappa you're rounding up?

[ perhaps it's just as well that yuri isn't a lion because they would have. many chapters ago, with the bulk of them not having a sneaky bone in their body.

in any case he just shakes his head at yuri's question. ]

Not much. So far, the ones we have taken are just as surprised as we are regarding the incident, and have no knowledge of the actual assassins who carried out the deed.

But it is still early on in the campaign.

[ he lowers his voice for yuri. ] There are serious repercussions for harbouring the Kappa. While I understand they are part of the Alliance, it cannot be helped that the gaze of the Enma is on them. They have a part to play here as well.

Sympathy is easy to garner, but the fact is that your faction leader is dead and people are hurt. Order must be restored.

[ and while dimitri doesn't like the warring factions because it reminds him too much of the worst aspects of home, this, he understands. there are people hurt, a leader is dead - and things could've gotten worse. no, it will not stand. ]

[ He was a lion, once, but he's expelled for a reason... ]

We've heard the same in the Alliance. It's likely the Kappa were simply following orders and misled to believe what they're building is harmless. They've been set up.

[ He's sure the Department of Enma will arrive at the same conclusions soon enough. The Alliance had just been quicker to act and exceptionally nosy. Yuri produces a notepad between his fingers - his notes from the Sutoku meeting. ]

The Alliance wants to know who's really responsible, and so does your department. I have information here Sutoku has gathered. So that we find the assassins sooner, I think it's beneficial I share it with you.

In exchange, see to it that your boss doesn't get so carried away with order that he mistreats the creatures in your care, will you?

[ for a reason!!! ]

If that is the case, then it is ever more important for the Kappa to not run from the law, as we are here to find leads regarding the assassination. That is not the behaviour of someone who wishes to cooperate. Fear is not a response tolerated in such a situation when someone important is dead, and plenty more could've been injured. Things could've gotten a lot worse for how they played out.

I can't guarantee what the Enma will decide on or how the department will conduct themselves. We have been given latitude to use whatever force necessary to round up the Kappa. [ he pauses, and then he gives him this - ] But I will try and help you, with all that I know and can share with you, as your friend.

They're only running because they think your hardass of a boss will make scapegoats of them. To the Enma, the rest of us are scum better cleaned off the streets.

[ Scare them half to death and then have no tolerance for their fear? Yeah, that makes total sense. Yuri has no fondness for the kappa. They've caused enough trouble, and they're stupid creatures, but at the end of the day, they're still the Alliance's creatures.

Rather than press his point, he checks himself. Dimitri considers him a friend for some reason, and he's not going to contest it right now when it works in his favor. ]

It is what it is. I'll tell you what I know regardless, because right now what matters isn't faction lines but making sense of what happened. If you're willing to share, I'd appreciate it, Dimitri.

I can't say that's what he thinks of them, either. I know that the Enma stands for order, and what the Kappa have done do not contribute to that. They should be afraid, because things could've been a lot worse, and their actions have led to someone being dead. An important one, in fact.

[ dimitri exhales.

he's here to share information, however, so this is what he tells him:

that no-one else is allowed down underground because the steam is incredibly hot and for safety reasons, everyone is being kept out of it;
that older enma department members believe the steam was used to circumvent the white wolf's senses, which they are known for being keen as it is;
the kappa fear a crackdown on their tribes (though he says this isn't a surprise);
that assassinations are uncommon though not unheard of, but nothing of this scale has been seen in memory. ]

The White Wolf are not cooperating with anyone outside of the Alliance, for now they are focused on keeping the Daitengu's body safe and respected from others who have taken an interest in them, for good or ill.

If it were up to me I would force them to talk. [ dimitri purses his lips to a thin, disagreeable line. ] Fortunately, I am not the crown prince here.

What can you tell me?

I'll speak with the White Wolf Guard. It's only natural they're suspicious of anyone outside the Alliance.

[ Yuri is learning that Dimitri can be very stubborn. He's all but shed his princely demeanor. What he tells Dimitri is:

- The Kappa didn't know what they were really building. The low-level workers lacked the knowledge and were under the impression the mechanism was a generator.
- The upper management of the Kappa tribe, who would know more, have gone missing.
- The generator had many pipes connected to it, and appeared to use a lot of water.
- No magic was detected in the assassins' camouflage, nor around the generator itself.
- He affirms the Kappa fear a crackdown and are terrified that without the Daitengu's protection, the other factions will hunt them down.

He'll also share some theories: that the generator was sabotaged, or that Kappa leadership collaborated with another faction or tribe within the Alliance dissatisfied with the Daitengu. Either way, what he wants to impart is that there are forces at work greater than the Kappa grunts. ]

I suggest your department focus on locating the missing Kappa leaders. They could be complicit, or they could be victims, considering they haven't shown themselves by now.

Natural, perhaps, but a little inconvenient to those of us who needs to get things done.

[ he should tell felix, he'll feel vindicated.

dimitri frowns and listens intently at his words. after a while, he says, ]

The Leicester Alliance from home had a similar problem - with the failing health of Count Riegan, the possibility of power shifting in the Alliance was the talk of the round table until Claude was declared heir.

I see parallels in our situation here. [ dimitri sighs. ] I will do what I can. In return - please see what you can find about your incoming leader.

I have my own theories. None of them are worth mentioning right now, but for this one thing -

[ he pauses, trying to recall his memory and to word this properly for him. ] - if you recall during the parade, a lot of the depictions of local myths had humans as the enemy.

Out of all our faction leaders, the Daitengu is the only one masked. But the others are visibly not human.

... I think that kind of sentiment is at play here. [ dimitri sighs. ] Of course, there is nothing to confirm such a theory, but it's been lingering in my mind for a while.

The youkai are a different breed from you nobles. I'm not holding my breath for a peaceful resolution.

[ Duke Riegan's succession had been civil. This is like the Leicester Alliance if the Leicester Alliance and its neighboring countries were run by crooks. Even if Sutoku had a perfect heir tucked away somewhere, Yuri expects the situation to get uglier before it gets better.

He contemplates Dimitri's next words. The poor, subjugated humans depicted on the floats hadn't escaped his notice. If Dimitri's theory were true, it would shake the youkai deeply. ]

Are you saying it was a human behind the mask? If our assassins didn't like that, it's odd they'd pass up the perfect chance to expose them, don't you think? The Daitengu could have been hiding their identity for other reasons.

[ To protect the people close to them, or not letting their enemies use their past against them. All reasons Yuri's taken on fake identities before. ]

It could be. It's just a theory of mine - why else would they not allow us to go near the body? I'm sure each leader has their own myth to contend with regarding their strengths. That the Daitengu went down quite easily is strange to me ...

It fits their alliance rather nicely, don't you think? Different clans working together, human and ... otherwise [ 'monster' doesn't seem polite, and dimitri is out of his element here as a fussy noble ], and not like the way the other factions are arranged.

But like I said, it's merely a theory. I haven't got anything to prove it with other than a passing judgment of the situation.

[ and it's true, the daitengu could be hiding their identity for other reasons. but this is the one he's been pondering lately. ]

It's an interesting thought. Not one that I like, if only because it doesn't bode well for the Alliance. A human could never have survived the attack.

[ A youkai could have pulled one over the assassins if they possessed some otherworldly ability, but a human not so much. Yuri would rather not think the Alliance leader so vulnerable. Though as things stand, it's not looking so great either way.

He holds out his notes to Dimitri. It's a summary of what he's told him, which isn't everything he knows, but everything he thinks will help make a case for the Kappa. ]

In any case, take this for your investigation. I suspect you'll have a busy month ahead. Watch your pretty head out there. It could get ugly.

1

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject